


Too Many Telepaths

by orphan_account



Series: The Telepath's Immortal [9]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternative Universe - Telepathy, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Non-Consensual Mind Reading, Telepathy, Toshiko Gets Hurt, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-10-30 18:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10882797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Toshiko was good at her job.Very good.And because she was very good, it meant she had secrets about Torchwood that no-one should ever get their hands on unless Jack authorised it. Which was why it was so surprised when she spilt all of them for a pretty girl at a bar.Mary gave her a pendant; a telepathic pendant. And Tosh could hear everything.She figured, after a few rough patches, some things that didn't end well, that maybe there should only be one telepath at Torchwood.





	1. Tosh the Telepath

**Author's Note:**

> Greeks Bearing Gifts definitely wasn't one of my favourite episodes because it was only about Toshiko and I used to literally only like ones that focussed on the entire team. 
> 
> And now Tosh is literally my favourite character and GBG is a pretty damn good episode by Torchwood's standards. This first chapter was pretty fun to write, especially with everyone feeling so vulnerable. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Toshiko hated affection.

 

 Alright, maybe she didn’t - she could never deny the butterflies she felt for Jack and Ianto whenever they even brushed together and she could tell that every bit of easy touching between the pair simply made them happier and happier. And because Ianto and Jack were happier, so was Tosh.

 

 Maybe Toshiko should rephrase - she hated Gwen and Owen’s affection.

 

 At first, it was because Gwen had a boyfriend and everyone at the Hub knew that (and maybe also the fact that Gwen was a xenophobic bitch, especially to Ianto and everyone at the Hub knew that too). But, it became more. Admittedly, Tosh was still pretty hung up over Owen, despite knowing she never had a chance, so it stung to see him with someone like Gwen, even more after how much the ex-PC hurt her best friend. And, it made her think all the more about how depressingly alone she was.

 

 Her irritation only built over the next few days, no matter how much Ianto tried to soothe her. First, it was the incessant flirting - it was often the same with Jack and Ianto, but it was different at the same time. Jack and Ianto adored each other, so their flirting meant so much more, whereas Owen and Gwen were a rush of guilt, excitement and sex, a flame that was taking too long to burn out. Then, the particular, almost smug, look that Gwen had given her at the crime scene that they’d visited late morning and Toshiko had barely paid attention to. It was as if she knew what Toshiko felt (no, had felt) for Owen. But then again, Tosh could be reading far too much into the situation (except that couldn’t be right either, because she never read too much into a situation).

 

 And now, it was the football.

 

 “Er… I’m really sorry, but I think your computer might be dead,” Owen said and although he sounded guilty, there was also a playful lilt to his voice, as if he expected Toshiko to simply forgive him. Tosh paused on her ascent up the stairs to her desk. Her eyes narrowed calculatingly and then when she saw the state her computer was in, she raced frantically over to her workstation.

 

 “You’re kidding! What happened?” Toshiko asked, not fully believing that her co-workers had been so childish as to play football in the Hub and consequently fucking up her entire day.

 

 “Ok, so she said I was no good at sport,” Owen began, pointing at Gwen with a smirk. He was oblivious to Toshiko’s panic. “Hello! So I said, well throw something to me and I'll-”

 

 “What happened to the computer?” Tosh reiterated, her teeth gritted as she watched the smiled fall from Gwen and Owen’s faces because of her anger. Even Gwen had the decency to look a bit guilty.

 

 “Oh...I kicked out the plug,” Owen admitted slowly, watching as Toshiko grew more and more irritated. Her hands were a second away from flapping nervously as she always had done as a child to try and cope with stress but never felt the need for again until now.

 

 “What?! It was running a translation program Ianto and I’d written. Translated every scrap of alien language we've got and broken it down into binary threads to see if there was a common derivation,” Tosh explained, rambling on despite knowing that Owen and Gwen wouldn’t understand what she was saying properly. 

 

 “That’s a bit of a mouthful,” Owen commented cheekily.

 

 Gwen laughed. Then, seeing Toshiko’s fuming expression, she quickly tried to become serious. “Sorry, private joke. Stupid joke!”

 

 “We're supposed to be professionals! We've got a job to do - mine was just messed up because of your bullshit,” Toshiko continued to rant. Then, she smiled without any humour. “God only knows what Ianto is going to do when he finds out! We’ve been working on that program together for months now.”

 

 “Find out what?” Jack’s voice sounded loudly from behind them. He had been studying the alien technology that they’d found at the site with Ianto, murmuring something quietly to the telepath before he caught wind of the argument going on in the main Hub. Ianto had followed him, standing stoically behind Jack, who had his arms crossed forebodingly.

 

 “She’s right. You’re right, Tosh, I’m sorry,” Gwen said, but Tosh couldn’t help but feel she was only doing it for the benefit of herself, especially now that Jack was there to watch the spectacle. Still, she no longer had as much of an issue with what had happened, not regarding Gwen, at least. The Welshwoman had moved off to her own workstation and actually seemed to be getting whatever it was that she did do.

 

   Now it was just time for Owen’s apology, and then Toshiko could finally calm down.

 

 “Do you know what, Tosh? Sometimes I think that even that stick up your arse has a stick up its arse!” Owen snarled, stepping into her personal space. Tosh saw Ianto bristle angrily out of the corner of her eye and Jack then sent him a warning, but kind look that had the telepath relaxing minutely. She was warmed that Jack had so much faith in her to solve this issue on her own. 

 

 Gathering herself, Toshiko smiled falsely at Owen. The medic seemed puzzled for a moment before Toshiko stepped forwards so that they were almost nose to nose and hissed, “At least I don’t have to rely on people already in relationships to get my rocks off, Owen.”

 

 The medic recoiled, hurt despite it being the truth. Toshiko, although rather smug, also felt a tad bit guilty and more than an ounce exhausted. As Owen stalked off, not without an aggravated glare from Jack because of his harsh words, Ianto went forward and gathered Tosh in a warm hug.

 

 It was exactly what the technician had needed and she sighed softly, burrowing into the comforting heat Ianto’s solid body was creating. It felt almost fatherly and she grinned at the thought, slowly brightening up as Ianto kept up with the long embrace. A soothing hand on her shoulder had both her and Ianto looking up.

 

 Jack was by them, taller than the both of them and looking really, very much like a father. ‘Torchwood’s dad,’ Toshiko thought to herself. ‘And Ianto is Torchwood’s tad then.’ Ianto chuckled to himself, having heard the loud thoughts, which caused Tosh to blush slightly.

 

 “Take the rest of the day off, Tosh. I think you need it,” Jack said, and when Tosh looked about ready to protest, he insisted, “and, you deserve it, more than any of us.” He smiled genuinely once more, before turning to Ianto. “Can you come up to my office when you’re done? We can work on the alien tech up there.”

 

 Ianto nodded, eyes following Jack as he walked past Gwen into his office, leaving the door open for him. “Oh, yeah, because I’m sure you’ll be ‘working’,” Toshiko teased, trying to use it as a distraction for her own bitter loneliness. Ianto picked up on it, of course, but he could tell Tosh didn’t want to talk about it at that moment.

 

 He blushed brightly. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Yan. If I had such a pretty boy, I’d be doing the same thing,” Toshiko reassured and Ianto glanced back at Jack’s office, smiling brightly at Tosh, who seemed to have perked up more.

 

 “He is quite pretty,” Ianto murmured but Toshiko shook her head teasingly. “Actually, I was talking about you.”

 

 Ianto flushed crimson and giggled at the compliment. Toshiko grinned at his reaction and bent down to pick up her bag from under her desk, ready to go home. Kissing her on the forehead and waving her off, Ianto finally returned to Jack’s office, shutting the door behind him and thanking the Gods that Jack’s desk wasn’t in view of the rest of the Hub.

 

 Meanwhile, Toshiko was driving home. It wouldn’t have been at all a monumental experience - except maybe the fact that there was no traffic and the sun was still shining, which never happened when Tosh was leaving work, mainly because she left so late - but when Toshiko passed a bar by the Quay and within walking distance to her house, she had the sudden urge to go in.

 

 The bar - it was called ‘The Kraken’. Tosh remembered that Ianto liked to go there to see one of his university friends - was somewhat crowded even so early in the evening. It was obviously quite popular, and Toshiko could appreciate why. The Kraken was classy, with clean benches and pretty, smart servers and nice looking olives on the tables.

 

 Wondering why she had chosen to come and not all that mad now that she was there, Toshiko sat at the bar and ordered a drink with a smile. It was something random from the drinks menu, and it looked simply enough when it came. It didn’t taste all that bad either. Tosh reminded herself to come by the bar again, maybe with Ianto, or on a team bonding session with all of Torchwood. 

 

 Tosh was lost in thought and about to order another drink when a voice at her side startled her. It was a woman’s voice, quite pretty, but not Welsh. Tosh glanced up in surprise and saw that the woman was as pretty as her voice was. The tech found herself almost mesmerised.

 

 “So the guy over there has been staring at me all evening and I've told him he's wasting his time but he won't listen. So I come over to talk to you because I know how this ends. He gets a punch in the neck and I get barred, and I've already been barred from about 20 pubs and I don't want to get barred from this one because they do these nice olives on the tables,” the blonde woman sighed, pointing to a man on the other side of the bar with a dead sort of look in his eyes.

 

 Tosh grinned at the woman’s words, suddenly feeling a lot more confident than she was before. Whoever this woman was, she could have chosen any of the people sitting alone in the bar, but she’d chosen to come to Toshiko.

 

 “I did notice the olives, yeah,” Tosh murmured, her attempt at flirting awkward and unpracticed but it made the other woman laugh. She had a really nice laugh.

 

 Staring intensely at Toshiko, the slightly taller woman made to sit down, lounging on the cushioned bar stool as if it were a throne. Tosh felt a slight prickle at the back of her mind but she shrugged it off, finding herself oddly enthralled by the gorgeous woman. “Cool...let me get you a drink?” the woman asked and Toshiko thought she sounded genuinely interested in her. It caused a warm, flattered stir in her stomach.

 

 “Really, there’s no need,” Toshiko declined but didn’t bother to stand up, instead choosing to drink in the sight of the pretty lady, wondering if they’d ever see each other again after that night. The other woman smiled slowly, looking up at her through her long, black eyelashes as she dug her wallet from her coat. It was as if she’d read Toshiko’s mind.

 

 “I’ll have a JD and coke,” the other woman began, smiling charmingly at the bartender, “and...Toshiko, what do you want?”

 

 Disappointment and suspicion raced through Tosh and she itched for her gun. Wary, Toshiko narrowed her eyes at the other woman staring intently at her. She’d hoped that the pretty blonde had come over to see her because she liked her or something - Tosh sighed, guessing she’d have to settle for being alone forever.

 

 “I didn’t tell you my name.” It was simply said, with no real emotion behind it, Tosh’s voice scarily cold and calm. The other woman didn’t seem to have expected it, but she recovered quickly, taking a sip of the drink the bartender had given her.

 

 “Oh yeah, that was the other thing. I kind of know who you are,” the other woman grinned.

 

 Tosh felt a stab of terror and she shook her head, trying to insist otherwise, although she knew already that this stalker (?) knew everything about her - well, almost everything. The other woman smirked and went on to prove just that. 

 

 “Toshiko Sato,” the woman announced and Tosh cringed inwardly at the sound of her name coming from the other woman’s lips, “born in London 1975, moved to Osaka when you were 2, back to the UK, 1986. Parents were in the RAF. Grandfather worked at Bletchley Park, very impressive!”

 

 Tosh couldn’t process anything. Sure, she’d definitely been mentioned on the internet once or twice, and lots of this information could have been found if anyone knew the right places to look. The only question Tosh had was why? Why did this strange woman know so much about her?

 

 The woman started up her speech again. Tosh was beginning to think she’d practised it in the mirror, knowing exactly when to pause and start to add dramatic effect. At some point in time, she’d lit a cigarette and despite the feeling that she was choking on smoke, Toshiko couldn’t find it in her to leave.

 

 “University … blah blah. Snapped up to government science think tank when you were twenty, recruited to Torchwood three years ago.”

 

 Funny, Toshiko had never even noticed that so much time had gone by with her in Torchwood. Except no, it hadn’t quite been three years, only two and a half or so. Obviously, the woman across from her hadn’t found out about her staying in that UNIT holding facility for a while, meaning Jack had done well on his part and covered it up, and also, given her a cover to show where she had been for those particular months.

 

 “I saw you at the building site this morning. What was that you had in the case?”

 

 Toshiko shook her head resolutely. This woman already knew so much about Toshiko specifically - what would she gain from learning about Torchwood? What were her motives? 

 

 “How do you know about Torchwood?” she asked instead, trying to deflect the question. 

 

 The other woman smiled slightly, shrugging. She seemed overly comfortable and calm and Tosh found herself irritated by her relaxed demeanour. “Oh, there's stuff on the internet but you have to dig really deep. Plus, we pick up bits and pieces from police work, radio scanners…” 

 

 She trailed off, knowing damn well that Toshiko was intrigued. “We?” Tosh asked finally.

 

 “Scavengers,” the other woman answered and something about her accent threw Tosh for a loop. It wasn’t an accent that she was familiar with, although it was clearly British. “Collectors. Just like you.”

 

 Tosh wanted to scoff. Not only were Torchwood professionals - other than the stunts Gwen and Owen were currently pulling - but they were employed by the British Crown. They weren’t anything like what this woman was describing (Toshiko may have ignored the similarities between their work and research and Torchwood’s work and research simply because she distrusted the blonde woman).

 

 “How many of them are you?” Maybe if she got some information on these people, she could try and get Jack to approve her wrecking their computers with some virus, out of spite. 

 

 The other woman shook her head, swallowing her mouthful of drink. Toshiko had the distinct impression that she was lying just from how planned her response was. “Mmm… Listen, don't think it's in any way organised. It's really just a disparate bunch of IT guys who live with their mothers.”

 

 Tosh needed that information. It wasn’t even just a matter of her safety anymore, she needed to find out what this woman knew. Then, the threat - if there was one - would be neutralised, and Toshiko could stop worrying. 

 

 Her companion was waiting rather patiently as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. Grinning in an honest sort of way and hoping that the woman wouldn’t guess some ulterior motive (although she probably would), Toshiko raised the rest of her drink in toast and downed it in one.

 

 “Let’s go find a nicer seat and you can tell me everything, hmm?”

 

* * *

 

 Jack was sitting behind his desk when Ianto came in, trailing through the up close images that they’d taken of the skeleton and the tech. He didn’t seem to be having much luck on either of them, face splitting into a relieved grin when Ianto came to the rescue.

 

 “I don’t know how you do all this paperwork as your job, Ianto,” Jack whined, gesturing down at his desk, which was covered in loose leaf papers covered in shorthand and sleek files filled with all the paperwork Jack needed desperately to do. 

 

 “I have plenty of people to make it worthwhile,” Ianto murmured back, sidling round the desk to stand in front of Jack. Impatient, the immortal grasped him by the waist and pulled down slightly so that Ianto was crouching, comfortably slumped against Jack, their chests pressed together. 

 

 “Toshiko, obviously,” Ianto started and then when he thought of the medic, he chuckled softly. “Sometimes, Owen isn’t too bad.” Jack pouted childishly when Ianto paused for a few long moments until Ianto giggled slightly. “You.” His voice was soft and tender and Jack could feel his heart swell with emotion. Instead of talking about it, he pulled Ianto down for a sweet kiss that quickly turned messy.

 

 Panting, Ianto leant back, Jack trying to chase after his lips. Teasingly, Ianto stopped him with a finger to his mouth but Jack didn’t desist, taking Ianto’s hand and trailing kisses around it. Instead of stopping him, Ianto let him keep kissing his palm, his fingers, sighing slightly in pleasure when Jack pressed a harder kiss against the pulse point in his wrist. 

 

 “We do actually have work to do, you know,” Ianto murmured finally when Jack started to raise a hand to begin unbuttoning Ianto’s shirt sleeves to reveal more flesh. Jack pouted but stopped with one final kiss. Ianto couldn’t say that he didn’t immediately miss them.

 

 Settling against the desk, Ianto glanced at the photographs on the computer screen. There were distinct carvings on the tech that they’d recovered, but Ianto only felt a slight twinge in the back of his mind at the sight of it. It was something recognisable, but Ianto couldn’t quite pinpoint it, and it appeared that neither could Jack.

 

 The immortal leant back in his chair, chewing his bottom lip. Raising his hands above the keyboard, Ianto brought up another tab alongside the photos of the tech and then found the database he’d created in the digital Archives that showed as many pieces of alien tech that they’d ever found. “I recognise it vaguely, so I figured it might be in the Archives,” Ianto murmured and Jack nodded in agreement, slouching over the desk as he started studying the first few pictures.

 

 They hadn’t found anything about fifteen minutes in. Ianto was half asleep by then, lazily tapping through the hundreds of photographs and comparing them to the ones that they’d taken of the alien ‘stapler’ as Jack had started to refer to it as. 

 

 The closest that they’d come to was a Voord piece of machinery - part of a submarine if Ianto remembered correctly - which interested them both for a second. The Voord had been a telepathic race, and the markings on their submarine sort of matched the ones on the tech they’d uncovered, but there were significant details that were incredibly different.

 

 “It could be related to the Voord, though,” Jack mumbled, really just grasping at straws. It was getting late and all Jack wanted to do was kiss Ianto goodnight and crawl into bed (he wanted it to be with Ianto, sure, but they hadn’t slept together since the incident after the cannibals and Jack didn’t want to be the one to first bring it up).

 

 “Yeah, I guess…” Ianto replied in an equally quiet, exhausted tone. Jack glanced at him and smiled. “You should head home. It’s getting late.”

 

 Ianto was about to reply when he gasped sharply, hand going immediately to his temple. Bolting up, Jack worriedly asked him if he was okay - he’d hurt vaguely the different incidents of pain that Ianto often went through on cases with telepathic machinery or beings, but had never had to witness it himself.

 

 But Ianto wasn’t hurt, not in the classical sense, at least. “It’s...it’s Toshiko. I can’t feel our Link in my mind,” Ianto mumbled, his voice full of worry and confusion. Jack could tell that he wasn’t in pain, but it didn’t stop him from being anxious.

 

 “You mean something’s happened to her?” Jack asked, not as frantically as he would have been considering Ianto seemed surprisingly calm, only extremely perplexed.

 

 “No...I don’t think so. It’s just our Link, it’s all muffled. Still intact,” Ianto reassured both himself and Jack, hand lowering from his forehead. “But it’s like she’s blocked it or something. She’s never done that.”

 

 Concerned, Jack gently put a consoling hand on Ianto’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s fine,” he mumbled, not too adamant on that fact but willing to appear it if it made Ianto feel better. Besides, Toshiko was a clever woman. If something was wrong with her, she wouldn’t hesitate to somehow get that message across to at least Ianto.

 

 The younger man furrowed his brow as he tried to locate their Link in amongst the mess that was his mind. A flooding sensation in the back of his skull made him sigh suddenly and he grinned in relief. “It’s fine, she...she’s back...I must have just gotten confused or something,” Ianto said, smile fading as he trailed off.

 

 Jack knew it was a blatant lie, but he didn’t say anything about it. “You should go rest then if you’re misplacing your Links with people,” Jack said lightly, not making the atmosphere any tenser but also making sure Ianto knew that Jack thought the excuse of ‘losing a Link and then finding it suddenly’ was utter bullshit.

 

 Ianto swallowed thickly and nodded. “Would you send me those photos of the tech? I can work at them from home too,” Ianto asked but Jack shook his head.

 

 “Not tonight you won’t. I want you fully rested, okay? But I promise in the morning, I’ll do it. No earlier than seven though, you do need to sleep,” Jack berated good-naturedly and Ianto smiled somewhat distantly. 

 

 “Yeah, thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he murmured. Jack felt the urge to go in for a kiss, but he could sense that Ianto was thinking (and worrying) about Toshiko, so he resisted. Ianto seemed to sense it, or maybe feel an urge of his own, because he leant in and pecked Jack chastely on the lips.

 

 “See you tomorrow,” he repeated and Jack nodded dumbly.

 

 “Goodnight.”

 

* * *

 

 Ianto had suppressed the need to go to Tosh’s house after he left the Hub. Although he was worried about the technician, Tosh was always trying out new things with their Link, so it could have easily been an experiment on her part. (‘And it could also just as easily have been something serious and you weren’t there for her,’ a part of his mind whispered to him. Ianto shrugged it off.)

 

 The younger woman had come in, seeming to be totally fine, the next day. “Tosh!” Ianto stepped forwards out from the hidden door in the Tourist Office and smiled brightly. Toshiko was startled as the telepath enveloped her in a hug, but was as equally grateful for the contact. The weight of the pendant that she had just put around her neck felt like a tonne of bricks.

 

 Ianto hissed sharply when he came in contact with it. Toshiko noticed and flinched away just as Ianto did the same. “Sorry,” he chuckled, and it sounded fake to Toshiko’s ears. “You’re just, erm...cold, that’s all. There’s, er, coffee on your desk. Warm you up nicely,” Ianto rambled nervously and Tosh smiled back evasively. 

 

 Her thoughts were full as she walked down the stairs to get into the Hub. Ianto had been hurt just by a simple touch of the pendant Mary had given her...was that what it had been designed to do? Ianto was telepathic and so was the pendant, so surely Ianto should have had some sort of positive reaction to the necklace?

 

 Tosh was about to come to the same conclusion that Ianto had just had at the same time; the pendant was somehow linked with dark energy, or had some sort of horrible negative past and kept all that negativity. But, her mind was suddenly bombarded with Owen’s voice. It took her a moment to realise that it was his thoughts. 

 

 ‘ What the hell would produce such a perfect circular puncture? Maybe some sort of wooden stake…’

 

 Then, out loud, he said, “Hey, Tosh.” It was light and carefree because he’d forgotten about their argument the other day (which Toshiko was rather pleased with) and Tosh was stunned at how different it was to his inner monologue. Perhaps this was why Ianto had always been able to see the inner worth in some people, like he had in Owen - because, underneath the surface, Owen was a concerned doctor trying to heal everyone but himself. 

 

 ‘She better not go into one about the computer again.’

 

 Okay, maybe he hadn’t entirely forgotten about that argument. But, Toshiko couldn’t find it in herself to be at all frustrated with him, not when she was hearing his actual thoughts, his honest feelings. She was hearing a part of Owen that few had seen and she was so very grateful for the different view she now formed of the medic. 

 

 “Morning,” Gwen called over from her station and Tosh glanced at her, distinctly pleased that she was actually doing work. Despite the Welshwoman’s flaws, she wasn’t all bad and Toshiko could sometimes see them being friendly, not friends, but friendly towards one another. Sometimes. Very little of the time. A minuscule amount. 

 

 ‘Bloody Sergeant asking about Ianto as if they were the ones who were friends back the force. I should tell Jack to make an official announcement that I’m police liaison now or something.’ 

 

 ‘Sometimes, she could be friendly,’ Toshiko reiterated, unhappy at the pure disdain that Gwen clearly felt for Ianto. Ianto had always been phenomenal with people, with or without his Gift; Gwen didn’t deserve that position and she certainly wouldn’t get much luck out of crying to Jack about it. 

 

 ‘Oh, sweetheart, the jeans in the boots thing has really kind of had its day.’   
  
‘Why is Tosh staring at Gwen like that? She can be dead weird. Wonder what she'd be like in bed? Catholic but graceful, I bet.’   
  
‘’That's Owen, I can smell him on me after that shag in his car this morning. That's twice now, does that make this an arrangement - it has to be more than two times surely, as long as we keep it to just the two times, we're fine. What's Tosh looking at?’

 

 Toshiko felt sick. Her teammate's thoughts crashed over her like a tsunami and Tosh felt the desperate need to take off the pendant. When it came down to it...her teammates really didn’t think much of her, did they? 

 

 She was going to tell them about the pendant, but turning back to her terminal - the screens were all working again, probably by Ianto’s doing (Tosh reminded herself to thank the man later on) - she decided against it. Tosh knew for a fact that as soon as they found out she’d rooted around in their minds, they’d never want to talk to her again. She wanted to put it off for as long as possible. 

 

 Part of another thought hit her, but Tosh resolutely shook her head, packed up her things as quickly as possible and left to the meeting room upstairs, where she could be at utter peace and quiet. 

 

 Ianto arrived after her, only about five minutes later. He was alone and Toshiko could hear his thoughts as clear, no clearer than they were in his physical voice. Only once did he look over at her and smile softly, but his mind was filled with anxiety. For her. For Jack. For everyone he knew, really.

 

 ‘Whatever happened to Toshiko last night, it must have been telepathic, cutting off our Link like that. And it’s still there, although it faded for a bit until this morning,’ Ianto thought, his words calculating and fast. Tosh wanted to throw up - if she had known that the pendant was cutting off her Link with Ianto, she never would have touched it. 

 

 “Whatever the hell it is, it better sort out damn fast. Maybe I should tell Jack how worried I am about her. No...he doesn’t need to hear me worry anymore. Whatever we have is never going to work if I just keep worrying to and around him,” Ianto mused, his facial expression not once changing as he picked up the empty mugs from the table. Tosh’s heart broke for him.

 

 Tosh was lost in his swirling thoughts when Ianto gasped suddenly and dropped the mug he was holding. It hit the floor with a harsh crack but stayed relatively intact. Tosh jumped and stared at him in concern.

 

 “That pendant…” Ianto began, pointing at the necklace hanging against her chest. Toshiko’s heart filled with fear at the panicked voice Ianto had. "I've seen it before.”


	2. Toshiko the Less Telepathic Telepath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took surprisingly long to write, fml
> 
> i hope you enjoy it though :))

Ianto didn’t much bother to clean up the broken mug properly. He simply picked it up and left it on the table, ignoring the tiny shards on the floor and walked over to Tosh. It was because of this that Tosh knew that something must be seriously wrong with the pendant for Ianto to act in such a flippant manner towards a shattered mug.

 

 “Tosh...can you trust me? Can you tell me everything?” Ianto asked in a low voice and Tosh realised (with the help of his thoughts) that he was feeling so very vulnerable. He was afraid, terrified actually, that he had hurt Toshiko more by not realising what the pendant was sooner. 

 

 Slowly, Toshiko nodded and Ianto stared pointedly at the necklace. She tore it off and suddenly, it was like a weight had lifted off her chest. Her mind was blank of any thoughts and she revelled in it for a moment before the fact that she had actually rooted around in people’s minds, without their permission, too, washed over her. Even without the pendant on, Toshiko could never erase what she had done. 

 

 She dropped it on the desk, in between herself and Ianto. In any other instance, Ianto would have grabbed it immediately and taken it to the Secure Archives, but the memory of the searing burn he’d felt when he touched it made him cautious.

 “Do you know what that pendant does, Toshiko?”

 

 Tosh nodded, fiddling with her fingers nervously. She knew that Ianto wouldn’t be happy with what the pendant was, nor her initial excitement that she would have the ability Ianto had. Finally, she said, “It gives you the ability to read people’s thoughts...people’s emotions too...things that Gifted’s can do.”

 

 Ianto was silent. He hadn’t actually known that about the pendant, only assumed it was something telepathic in origin and the revelation stunned him for a second. What reason would Tosh have had to even put the necklace on?

 

 Unless…

 

 “Who gave you this?”

 

 Tosh baulked and Ianto knew he’d struck gold. Arguably, he’d known before, but Toshiko’s sharp intake of breath simply proved it. She stuttered for a moment before answering him. “I-I...Her name’s Mary. I met her at a bar, last night. She gave me the pendant.”

 

 Ianto furrowed his brow, thinking. He leant forward, taking Toshiko’s hands in his own. They were sweaty, but cold, quivering slightly as she glanced up at Ianto - it was obvious that she liked whoever this Mary person was, but was entirely unsure why. 

 

 “That’s not just it though, is it? You’re not someone who just wears alien tech for the hell of it,” Ianto murmured, taking in the slight twitch of Toshiko’s brow and the hesitant licking of her lips. It was her nervous tick. 

 

 “I...I think that Mary is telepathic. I think…” Tosh trailed off, chewing her bottom lip in thought. Ianto finished the sentence of for her.

 

 “You think that she’s controlling you, manipulating you in some way. So do I.” It made the most sense, really. It would explain the negative energy in the pendant - anytime Ianto had heard about those who mind read non-consensually always had rather terrible repercussions - and it would explain the strangeness of Toshiko wearing the necklace. 

 

 “The pattern on the pendant, the style it’s in,” Ianto added, “it matches the symbols on the alien tech we found. I think that they’re from the same planet.”

 

 Toshiko hummed under her breath and eyed the necklace on the table. There was a strange longing to touch it growing in her mind, but Tosh resisted it, grabbing a tighter hold onto Ianto’s hands. Ianto skewered her with a knowing stare and Tosh sagged under the weight of it. It was comforting to see that Ianto understood her completely, even though she was uncertain from the rather neutral expression on her face whether or not he was upset with her for delving into everybody’s minds.

 

 Sighing, she glanced away from the pendant. Ianto was waiting expectantly for her to talk. 

 

 “We should go see Jack about this.”

 

* * *

 

 Ianto took her home - his home, at least. It was the most logical thing to him at the time; Tosh didn’t to be around the Hub with the guilt of reading her teammates’ minds warring on her mind and Ianto didn’t want to talk to Jack in such an impersonal place as his office (additionally, Jack hadn’t been in since the morning, probably out running errands for Flat Holm or something).

 

 Tosh was immediately swathed in blankets when she sat down heavily on the sofa in Ianto’s living room. It seemed to have become a staple in her and Ianto’s relationship, but she wasn’t all that mad at it. 

 

 Smiling reassuringly, Ianto sat besides her, allowing Tosh to swing her legs up onto his lap to get more comfortable. It was easy and relaxed and Tosh revelled in it for a moment before Ianto pulled out his phone and she was snapped back to the situation.

 

 The pendant was in a secure holding box on the table. Ianto hadn’t tried to touch it yet. Ianto pulled the phone up to her ear and Tosh felt almost nauseated - it was like Mary had said. She wanted to keep the pendant for herself, she wanted to be able to read people’s thoughts.

 

 But no, because that wasn’t her. She wasn’t some sort of disgusting voyeur...and then when she said that, it was like she was calling Ianto sick for doing the same thing, for simply being telepathic. There was a mess of confusion in her mind and Toshiko couldn’t sort through it properly.

 

 Everything that she had heard of people’s thoughts had somehow hurt her and Tosh didn’t want it anymore. Didn’t want to know how much Ianto worried about her, didn’t want to know Gwen’s shallow thoughts, didn’t want to hear about how much Owen wanted to have sex with Gwen. Suddenly, it hit her that Ianto must have felt that every day, at least until he mastered blocking off his mind with mental defences. 

 

 Relief washed over her when the ringing of Ianto’s mobile pulled her out of her thoughts. It took a few rings before Jack picked up.

 

 “Harkness,” Jack answered in a crisp, clear voice, not having checked the caller ID. Nevertheless, both Toshiko and Ianto relaxed at the sound of his voice. It was deep and comforting despite being incredibly formal compared to the way the immortal usually spoke to them.

 

 “Jack, it’s Ianto,” the telepath murmured and Jack’s demeanour changed entirely. Toshiko could hear the smile in his voice. 

 

 “Ianto! What’s up, beautiful?” Jack seemed to stumble over the pet name, but Ianto only blushed brightly at it, not all that upset. Toshiko smiled at the reaction, but the grin faded when Ianto kept talking.

 

 “It’s Toshiko,” Ianto began. Jack worriedly cut in, “What? Is she okay?”

 

 Toshiko’s heart warmed at the words, and she snuggled closer to Ianto’s slightly tenser frame. The telepath relaxed, grinning down at Tosh. “Don’t worry, she’s okay. But something’s happened, it’s about the case. I think she’s being controlled by something,” Ianto answered rather vaguely. 

 

Jack sounded more serious than he had before. “Alright. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he said. “Are you at the Hub?”

 

 “No, I took her home. My house, I mean,” Ianto corrected and Jack hummed, telling Ianto that he’d understood. Toshiko knew that it had been a slip up on Ianto’s part, calling his house both his and Jack’s home, but she also knew that Jack wouldn’t have minded one bit if Ianto hadn’t corrected himself. 

 

 Jack hung up and Tosh settled back against Ianto’s side. He pulled his legs up onto the sofa and hugged her closer, both of them grateful for the easy affection. “Jack says he’ll be here in twenty minutes,” Ianto said, for lack of anything else to say. Tosh hummed.

 

 “How are things with you and him?” she asked quietly, not sure how much Ianto would let her intrude into his personal life now that she’d blatantly read his thoughts to learn about it. Ianto felt the hesitance in their Link, and smiled reassuringly at her. He didn’t blame Toshiko for a second for hearing his thoughts.

 

 “Good, I think. I’m still so worried that he’ll push me away again like he used to. And that this is just a fling for him, for us. That I might lose him,” Ianto said, and then leaning into the sofa and spreading out into a much more comfortable position, he continued. “But...things are so easy between us right now, too. He always seems happy to be around me, he shares things with me. I share things with him, too - about everything. My Gift, my clan, sometimes. And it feels so good to be around him.”

 

 Toshiko beamed, relaxing more against Ianto’s body. It always made her happy to hear Ianto talk so adoringly about anything, but especially when it was about Jack. They both had deserved love for such a long time and Tosh felt so blessed to see them happy with one another. To love each other, unconditionally. It made her think. 

 

 “You love Jack, don’t you?” Tosh asked out loud. She had realised that Ianto had never said it out loud after the pair got together, not even if he was talking solely to Toshiko. The telepath gaped at her question, nervous to answer.

 

 “It’s always so much harder to say now...because now we have a relationship, it means that I have something to lose. But...yeah,” Ianto answered finally. Toshiko noticed that he still didn’t speak those three little words, but she wasn’t disappointed. Jack deserved to be the first one to hear them. 

 

 They sat together in silence for a few long minutes, enjoying the cozy quiet. Growing somewhat restless in the middle, worriedly waiting for Jack to arrive, Ianto got up and made Toshiko tea. It was delicious, but the therapeuticness of the actions didn’t help Ianto’s nerves. 

 

 The SUV pulled up about five minutes later, and Ianto and Toshiko both perked up, although they’d slowly been dropping to sleep before with the boredom of waiting. Ianto’s legs were tangled up in the blankets around Toshiko’s body, so he couldn’t get up to greet Jack at the door. The immortal let himself in anyways. 

 

 “Ianto? Tosh?” Jack called out, anxiety tinging the edges of his voice. He was about the walk up the stairs, assuming they’d be in Ianto’s bedroom when he didn’t get a reply. Ianto swallowed his mouthful of tea quickly, and set the mud aside on the coffee table.

 

 “We’re in here, Jack!”

 

 Jack spun around, striding into the living room with a tired, but bright smile. His eyes were crinkled slightly with the force of it at seeing two of his favourite people cuddled up together with steaming cups of tea and a mess of blankets. “You two seem comfy,” he drawled.

 

 The immortal smiled fondly at the both of them, pressing a kiss to Toshiko’s forehead and a slightly more tentative one to Ianto’s lips. He glanced at the containment box on the table. “That’s…?”

 

 Jack reached out the the box and opened it, staring in recognition at the pendant inside. “It’s a telepathic pendant. I got it yesterday,” Toshiko said quietly, relieved that Jack seemed to know what it was. She just wanted this entire case to be over and done with. 

 

 “Who gave you this, Tosh? You’re not someone who puts dangerous alien tech around your neck for no reason,” Jack asked and Toshiko sat up to meet his concerned gaze.

 

 “Her name’s Mary. I...I didn’t want to put it on, though.”

 

 Jack stare trailed back down to the pendant, grazing it with his finger before snapping the containment lid shut. “It’s an Accanteenian crystal. They use it, the Arcans, I mean, to communicate telepathically with other beings.”

 

 “So, you think that an Arcan gave Tosh the crystal,” Ianto stated. It wasn’t a question - he knew exactly what Jack was thinking, because he was thinking the same thing. They were just that in tune with one another.

 

 “Exactly. And that alien tech that was dug up yesterday…”

 

 “It has the same markings as the pendant,” Ianto finished for him and Jack smiled slightly, nodding. “I think you’re right though. About the mind control bit - Toshiko’s far too clever to put it on without some sort of telepathic push. Besides,” Jack straightened up from where he had been kneeling by the pair, “the crystal doesn’t really suit humans too well. Or any species that isn’t Arcanteenian of descent.”

 

 Ianto and Toshiko stood up with Jack, Ianto taking a moment to straighten his suit. Jack picked up the containment box, studying it with a curious look. “I just wonder...is this Arcan trying to get the tech we found? It’s from their planet, but they’ve also risked a hell of a lot with giving Tosh the crystal and giving her the freedom to expose it to us…”

 

 Jack shrugged, and then he was out of the living room with a swish of his greatcoat. “We should try and find the Arcan again, and figure out why they want the tech so much. If that’s what they want,” Jack called over his shoulder as Ianto and Tosh scrambled to follow him and a pleased, relieved look shared between them. 

 

The moment that the containment box was out of Tosh’s sight, she felt like herself again. She told both Jack and Ianto everything then, not all that shy about spilling the secrets she’d learnt about Owen and Gwen. It caused Ianto to straighten up suddenly, not meeting Jack’s gaze; when he did, they appeared to communicate in some way, reaching a consensus about their feelings about the matter, although Toshiko was sure they didn’t use telepathy at all.

 

 She told them how horrible she had felt hearing Ianto’s thoughts too, and the need to get away from the rest of the team. Ianto seemed apologetic about interrupting her peace, but Toshiko shook her head adamantly. “No, you’re the one who got me out of the pendant’s control. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come up.”

 

 She sighed, shifting forwards. Ianto and Jack were in the front seat, so she had to awkwardly position herself to talk to them properly. “But why me? What would have made Mary choose me specifically?”

 

 “The circumstances, I think. She could have chosen anyone, but she must have read your thoughts, about how angry you were and Gwen and Owen,” Jack answered and Toshiko nodded, thinking back on how alone she had felt, how flirtatious Mary had been. She had just used her. In fact, if Tosh hadn’t been so resolutely against it, she might have even gone as far as having sex with Tosh. No, raping Tosh, if the mind control about Jack’s hypothesis was correct. Tosh wouldn’t have been able to consent, not properly.

 

 It made the young tech want to throw up.  

 

 “We’re not going to let her get anywhere near you again,” Ianto promised, reading her unease through their Link. He offered the Asian woman his hand and Tosh gratefully grabbed at it, taking comfort in the warm, solid weight of it. 

 

 Jack was about to say something in agreement when his phone started ringing. He cursed lowly, about to take his hands off the steering wheel to dig about in his pocket for the device. Ianto stopped him with a faux-stern ‘eyes on the road, Harkness’, and pulled the phone from Jack’s coat pocket. Later, Jack would swear on his very long life (lives, really) that he didn’t blush at the contact.

 

 “It’s Owen,” Ianto murmured and accepted the call, pressing the phone into Jack’s hand. Jack greeted the medic with a short ‘what is it?’ He listened for a few seconds and then put the phone on speaker so Ianto and Tosh could hear. 

 

 “I said, I’ve finished the post mortem on the skeleton we found at the construction site...I may have had to change my initial hypothesis. Stop singing,” he snapped at Gwen, who was singing badly and teasingly in the background. It was some childish song about bones, and Tosh remembered it vaguely from childhood. 

 

 The singing only got worse at Owen’s annoyance.

 

 “Owen, give me the report,” Jack said in a sharp, authoritative tone. It offered no nonsense from the medic or the ex-PC on the other end of the line, and it caused a slight shiver to shoot through Ianto’s body. Jack noticed and would have smirked lasciviously at the telepath had he not been interrupted by Gwen’s cawing laugh.

 

 “Gwen, let Owen finish his report,” Jack snapped, and Tosh swore the resulting silence was paired with one of the woman’s pouts and doleful gazes. 

 

 “As I was saying,” Owen said again, “it is actually a man, not a woman. Admittedly though, a very girly man. And then the cause of death - not a gunshot wound, no, unidentified trauma. So none of my prognosis was actually correct.”

 

 Toshiko could practically feel the self-loathing seeping from Owen’s voice - his medical knowledge was arguably the thing he valued the most in his life, other than the team (although to that fact, he would protest) and it must have stung to know that nothing he had at first believed about the skeleton was actually true. 

 

 “It doesn’t matter, Owen, just as long as you have it right now,” Jack replied, recognising his tone of voice. Owen seemed sedated at the calming words, but everyone in the SUV knew that he would continue to think about it for quite some time. 

 

 “Me, Tosh and Ianto are heading to the Hub now. We’ll see you then,” Jack said and then terminated the call. He slid the phone back into his pocket and glanced at Tosh through the rearview mirror, checking wordlessly if she was still alright - Tosh nodded. 

 

 “There’s something about Owen,” Ianto murmured and Jack’s attention snapped to the telepath. “I can feel it through our Link...like he recognises the case, like he’s seen it before. You think that had anything to do with the Arcan?” he mused out loud, turning to face Jack.

 

 The immortal hummed quietly under his breath. “It’s a possibility, yeah. In the meantime,” his gaze turned back to Toshiko’s reflection, “I don’t want you out of our sight, Tosh. I know you can look after yourself,” he assured, noticing Toshiko was about to protest, “but we care about you and we want to keep you as safe as possible.”

 

 “Besides,” Ianto said playfully, squeezing her hand. It was beginning to go numb stuck in the same position and pressed against the car seat, but Ianto didn’t move it. “You have a dashing captain to protect you.”

 

 “And a rather brilliant telepath, too,” Jack added, smiling brightly at the easy banter. Ianto grinned back, blushing slightly at the compliment. Toshiko tried to sigh sternly at their antics, but it came out as a chuckle. 

 

 “When you put it like that…”

 

* * *

 

 Owen was fussing over the skeleton in his lab when Ianto, Toshiko and Jack arrived. It was always rather hypnotic to see the medic work, his moves clean and precise but still reckless all at the same time as he wielded a scalpel or saw or just his own hands. 

 

 It was often times like this that Ianto always talked to Owen. It was one of the only reasons that he and the medic became friends - contrary to popular belief, Owen was a rather emotional person. When he was working, the majority of the time, his walls came down and he was more ‘himself’. He was easy to have fun with and less concentrated on the deeper questions that Ianto often threw at him because he was too invested in his work to think what he was saying.

 

 “Owen?” Jack called as he strode up to the mortuary. The medic grunted in reply, kind of crouching by the skeleton. “You’re still working on that?” Toshiko asked in reference to the skeleton. Owen nodded and then straightened up, glancing up at where Jack had leant against the railings, Toshiko standing partway down the stairs to his bay. It was clear she had wanted a better look at the body, and Owen wondered for a second why before speaking mainly to Jack.

 

 “As I said, it’s not a GSW. So-” he paused, pointing to a folder full of information he’d printed out about the era of time Toshiko had predicted the body to be from “-I figured it might have been a ritual or something. ‘Cos if you look closer...here, the heart was removed from the body.”

 

 “What kind of ritual?” Ianto asked, appearing suddenly at Jack’s side with a tray of coffee. The immortal took it gratefully and Ianto gave Tosh two cups - one for her, one for Owen. Smiling, the medic took it with a relieved sip, the caffeine helping to ease the headache he was suffering from.

 

 “Not sure,” Owen sighed. “I started looking into devil worship and stuff from that era to see if there is anything about plucking out hearts, and would you believe it? There's nothing. They ate eyeballs, they drank blood, they had sex with animals but they did not pluck out each others’ hearts. ‘Cos, obviously that would have been a bit weird.”

 

 The joke didn’t serve to lighten the mood; everyone seemed rather downtrodden that they were no closer to finishing the case, although Owen hadn’t yet been informed of what had happened to Toshiko. Ianto and Jack both thought it best to leave the decision for her to make. 

 

 “But, you recognised it, didn’t you?” Ianto queried and Owen hummed, not even questioning for a second how Ianto had known. It was rather surprising how quickly and easily Owen had adapted to having a telepathic being in his head all the time (he could always feel Ianto’s presence even if they weren’t reading each other’s thoughts or emotions, which they scarcely did anyways). Ianto had an idea that it may have been something to do with Owen feeling more supported now that Ianto knew his more personal thoughts, especially considering he never had to share them out loud to still have them shared with someone. Ianto was all too pleased to indulge the medic’s strange liking to his Gift, understanding from the medic’s loose shoulders and slight smile that it made him much happier. 

 

 “It’s just something, on the outskirts of my mind...it doesn’t remind you lot of anything, does it?”

 

 Both Toshiko and Jack shook their heads, but Ianto didn’t answer, staring thoughtfully down at the skeleton. “Ianto?” Jack urged softly and the telepath seemed to snap back to reality. He gazed down at Owen.

 

 “It doesn’t make me think of anything...but, if it’s in your mind, even distantly, I might be able to dig it out for you. Using our Link, I mean,” Ianto proposed, pleased by Owen’s new excitement. It had been obvious something had been bothering the medic, and Ianto only wanted to make his friend feel better. There had been too much pain in Torchwood as of late.

 

 Ianto nodded and replied that he’d just have to set something up first, about to head over to his car to retrieve the item. A hand on his chest stopped him. Jack stared down at him with a pleading look. “This isn’t going to hurt you, either on of you. Is it?”

 

 Ianto smiled reassuringly and shook his head. “We’ll be perfectly safe, Jack. Even more so now that mine and Owen’s Link has been finalised properly. We hadn’t shared consciousnesses enough before for the Link to actually be treat as such, so it would have been weaker against the amplifier I’m going to use.” Ianto grasped Jack’s hand in both of his own and pressed a gentle kiss to it. “I promise I’ll stop if things go south.”

 

 “Will you two lovebirds get a move on? We have things to do, you know,” Owen cried indignantly from where he’d been following Ianto and then assaulted by the sight of Jack and Ianto’s affection. Ianto could see Toshiko stifling a laugh in the background and his heart almost burst. This was his family.

 

 Satisfied with Ianto’s explanation, Jack smiled slightly at Owen’s comment and let his partner go to fetch the amplifier, or whatever it was, from the glove compartment of his car. 

 

 It was a gel of sorts, blue in colour and waxy. Owen was reminded of clay when he first saw the small jar Ianto had been keeping it in. “What’s it do?” he asked, trailing after Ianto, who was striding back into the Hub. He seemed to choose to perform the ceremony (Owen wasn’t all too sure what to call it, exactly) in the mortuary and didn’t reply to Owen’s query until they were settled there. 

 

 “It’s meant to strengthen the Link between two telepathic beings - from my experience, it works just as well on humans, so you won’t have to worry. And, the strength of the Link - or the Bond or Line, for that matter - is temporary. Should fade after a while,” Ianto explained, motioning for Owen to sit. 

 

 He opened the jar of clay-like substance and rolled two of his fingers in it. The substance glowed a little brighter, wisps of light trailing off it as it reacted with Ianto’s Gifted biology. “We call it grymuso. It means ‘strengthen’ in Welsh - other clans across the world have different names for it, though.”

 

 Ianto pulled his shirt sleeve up awkwardly with his teeth, Owen watching on in confusion. “There’s a large process to do it properly - it used to be used before battles to increase our magic, but now it’s mainly used as a way to get high or something,” Ianto muttered, voice full of disdain for those who chose to abuse the power that they had been given to become intoxicated. He pressed his two fingers against his pulse point, smearing the grymuso onto his flesh. It glowed for a second before seeming to seep into his skin, staining the white a pale, almost shimmering blue. 

 

 The telepath reached out for Owen’s arm. “Whoa! I’m not just some way to get high for you, right? Like, this is actually going to help?” Owen asked, hiding his arm protectively behind one hand. Ianto rolled his eyes and nodded, exasperated with Owen’s behaviour. The medic desisted, only having been half - a quarter, really - serious about his accusations.

 

 The grymuso was icy when it touched his wrist. Owen was about to flinch away, but Ianto, anticipating the movement, grabbed his arm. The substance didn’t dissolve into Owen’s flesh like it had for Ianto’s and the man was immediately worried that he’d done something wrong. “What-”

 

 “As I said, it’s meant to be for two Gifteds. The grymuso bonds with our DNA for a short while to increase our perception of mental linkages. But that part is automatic only for Gifteds,” Ianto sighed, leaning back. He would definitely need Owen’s consent for the next part and he had fear in his heart that Owen would outright refuse. Ianto had never had to use his magic to manipulate his teammates before and now he had to. “I have to use my magic to bond the grymuso to your DNA. It’ll fade, but it’s going to change some of your molecular structure, particularly in the brain.”

 

 Owen nodded silently and Ianto pressed him with a probing look. “That’s fine, Ianto. As long as it fades and as long as we figure out how this skeleton ties in with everything else that’s been going on.”

 

 Ianto took a deep breath, satisfied with Owen’s explanation and gathered some energy in his palm. As he pressed it to Owen’s wrist, the substance flooded into the medic’s veins and then deeper, the area of contact burning hotly for a second before it faded. 

 

 Owen’s mind was ten times clearer than it had ever been. Ianto could see every layer of Owen’s brain, his thoughts and feelings, his knowledge and memories. The feeling transcended any other, and Ianto vaguely realised that his true form had come out, his eyes shifting to their natural form for Owen to see. 

 

 It only took about thirty seconds for Ianto to find the information he needed. He couldn’t quite discern what it meant, but ‘Operation Lowry’ stood out clearly as what Owen was trying to grasp at. In the headspace that he was in, Ianto’s own knowledge of whatever the project was was pretty limited so he took a deep breath and cut off the connection between himself and Owen.

 

 The grymuso faded almost instantaneously from Owen’s skin and therefore also, his DNA. Ianto hadn’t ever seen someone overcome it so quickly, but he figured it was something genetically different with Owen, something uncommon maybe. 

 

 “Holy fuck,” the medic whispered, “your eyes!” He was slightly out of breath, having held it with awe as their minds had connected completely. Ianto swallowed thickly, casting his glamour to hide the electric blue orbs and missing Owen’s slightly disappointed expression as he turned away to go up to Owen’s workstation in the main Hub.

 

 “Project Lowry? Do you know what that is?” he called over his shoulder and when he turned, Owen’s face was ashen. The medic nodded without saying anything and raced up the mortuary stairs, reaching his computer and quickly logging in. 

 

 Ianto followed, noticing Toshiko and Jack in the armory together, glaring down at the Arcanteenian tech, trying desperately to figure out what it was. He switched his attention back to Owen as the medic leant back in his chair. Operation Lowry was up on screen - hundreds of victims’ files, all with one trait shared between them, all of them.

 

 Heart removed.

 

 “Jack, Toshiko! You better come look at this!” Owen shouted, trailing through the cases one by one. Ianto could tell that the man was becoming more and more upset, seeming to relive a memory affiliated with Operation Lowry.

 

 The pair departed the armory and stood behind Owen’s chair, Jack’s arms folded. He stood directly behind Ianto, somewhat worried for the both of them and wondering if the grymuso had worked. “You’re both not hurt, are you?”

 

 Owen shook his head and pointed to the screen. “Operation Lowry, that’s what it’s called by the local coppers. It’s been going on for centuries, Jack. Every single case, with their heart removed. And it’s just hit me why it looked familiar -  when I was working as a doctor in A&E, a new doctor, we had a woman come in with, her wound just like these. I’d never really thought of it until now…”

 

 Jack stiffened behind Ianto, hand going protectively to Toshiko’s shoulder. Ianto had predicted it before, and now Jack completely believed it - whoever this Mary character was, all those deaths had been because of her. Would Toshiko have been another victim added to Mary’s already incredibly long list?

 

 “Thanks, Owen…” Jack said, voice trailing off. The medic didn’t appear to be listening too hard, so Jack walked away, beckoning Ianto and Tosh to follow.

 

 “What do we do, Jack?” Toshiko asked when they were safely behind his closed office doors. Her voice was shaky with fear - she’d been thinking the same thing about the victims of Mary as Jack had. The immortal sighed, crossing his arms with a determined smile.

  
 “We find Mary.”


	3. Only One Telepath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, this one took a long while to write. i was just super stumped for ideas. the next fics should be out more regularly once i've finished these big projects for school i'm currently working on :/
> 
> okay, next up is 'they keep killing suzie'. some big stuff is revealed in the next fic, a lot more janto happens and i am excited :))

 It didn’t take as long as Toshiko would have hoped to find out where Mary was. She checked the CCTV footage to see if she could find Mary there, as she had said she had been. It took a few moments for her to find the horribly familiar face in amongst all the other gawkers. 

 

 Tosh sent the screen grab to Ianto and Jack to help them search local security camera footage for Mary. As much as Ianto had tried to insist to her that it would be better to tell Owen about everything, Toshiko refused to recount Mary giving her the pendant or her using it. She knew that Owen would be upset at her and she didn’t want that. 

 

 The technician had thought that she it would have been hard to hide what she was doing from Owen, but he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Still, Toshiko was wary when searching through the camera footage - she was slower than Ianto and Jack were, not wanting to have to see Mary again, not wanting to have to do the inevitable and ‘deal’ with her.

 

 Her heart sank when Jack beckoned her into his office with a grimace. She walked stiffly over to Jack’s office, trying to muster a smile when she arrived, closing the door behind her. Ianto was behind Jack’s chair and the immortal leant with a sigh against his desk.

 

 “We’ve found Mary,” Jack said with some difficulty. He and Ianto had both known that Toshiko wouldn’t be all too happy at the news...especially considering where she was. Before Toshiko could ask, Jack continued, “She’s outside your house.”

 

 Toshiko couldn’t speak. Her throat was dry and her chest constricted tightly. “What’s...what are we going to do to her?” she finally asked, her voice tired and quiet. She just wanted everything to be over, she wanted to stop thinking about the hole that could have been in her chest had Ianto not seen the pendant and helped. 

 

 “...We need you to lure her here - the tech that we found? I think it’s a transporter. Two man, one prisoner and one guard.”

 

 “And she killed her guard. And you want me to get her to come here,” Toshiko stated disbelievingly. Jack didn’t look like he was joking.

 

 “If she gets what she wants, she’ll leave Earth,” Jack murmured, trying to sedate the anxious technician. It didn’t have the desired effect. 

 

 “What, let her go so she can terrorise other planets?” Toshiko asked, crossing her arms with irritation. Jack would never have suggested something like this before. She was filled with a kind of disgust for the man, mixed with a bitter curiosity. She scowled as Jack smiled brightly at her - Ianto was grinning too.

 

 “You’re just brilliant, Toshiko, you know that? That you’d think of that…” then, when Jack saw Toshiko’s confusion, he explained properly. “We’d only give the transporter to her if it was absolutely necessary - we weren’t going to tell you,” Jack went on, gesturing between himself and Ianto, “because we had to make sure if Mary checked through your thoughts that she wouldn’t find out we were going to double cross her, which is essentially what we’re doing.”

 

 “Wait,” Toshiko was confused, having had so many plans thrown at her at once, “are we giving Mary the transporter or not?”

 

 Jack shook his head adamantly then paused. “Er, no. Not exactly - not unless it’s necessary. Not unless she threatens one of you, for instance,” he explained. Toshiko had begun to understand what he was getting at - Jack didn’t want to tell her what was really going on in case Mary rifled through her mind. 

 

 “But,” Toshiko said, noticing the flaw in Jack’s plan, “now I know what we’re doing. Surely Mary would be able to read that from my mind?”

 

 “I think that I might be able to help with that,” Ianto announced, speaking for the first time. “From what I know, Arcans have a low level telepathy. It’s much less powerful than those of a Gifted, so I could put a barrier between that part of your mind, your memory, really, and hers.”

 

 Sensing Toshiko’s next question, Ianto smiled sympathetically. “I’d put a barrier between the entirety of your mind and hers, but she’s a hell of a lot more likely to notice such a high amount of telepathic manipulation.”

 

 Swallowing thickly, Toshiko nodded. It wasn’t at all what she wanted, but it was what she was given - nothing about the situation was ideal, but how else would she ever get Mary put behind bars? How would she do her job and protect the world from something like her?

 

 “So...when is it happening?” she murmured, not meeting Jack’s searching, concerned gaze. If she did, she knew that she’d become weak and vulnerable; her resilience was the only thing allowing her to stand upright.

 

 “As soon as Ianto puts the mental block on your thoughts,” Jack sighed, giving up on getting Tosh to look at him. Tosh looked up at that, noticing Ianto slightly hidden behind Jack. He’d conjured energy in his palms, a blue swirling throughout his slender fingers. She remembered vaguely that at least to her knowledge, Jack had only seen Ianto’s magic once, when he had saved his own life with the cannibals. 

 

 Jack seemed rather interested to see Ianto’s magic once more. He stepped back, intrigued stare fixed on Ianto’s hands. Toshiko almost didn’t notice when the telepath touched her forehead with his palm, so entertained by Jack’s childish excitement to see Ianto’s Gift. A warmth blazed against the inside of her skull, fading to a dull, pleasant sort of ache. It was over in a matter of seconds, but even after Ianto’s magic flickered away and his hand lowered, Tosh could feel the block in her mind. 

 

 “So, this is gonna keep me safe?” Toshiko asked, stepping back slightly from Ianto. The blockage in her mind felt strange and foreign, but not all that unpleasant. 

 

 “It should,” Ianto murmured, vaguely. He didn’t seem all that happy to be putting Toshiko out in the field for such a dangerous mission, especially since it was really only his magic that was going to protect her. If anything were to happen to her, Ianto would blame it solely on himself.

 

 Jack patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. “It will,” he reassured them both. “We should get going, then,” he murmured, grabbing his coat from the hook behind his desk. He was about to leave his office when Ianto stopped him with a hand on his chest, gently stopping his movements. 

 

 “What about Owen?” he asked. It was a fair point - Owen was bound to ask questions if they strode out with purpose, determined faces and Jack’s swishy military coat. 

 

 Jack bit his lip nervously. “You think that we should include him?”

 

 “I think that he deserves to know. We all care about Toshiko, we all want to keep her safe. Owen would be hurt if he knows we kept him out of this, especially if he could have done something to help,” Ianto explained, hand dropping down from Jack’s chest. Toshiko squirmed slightly, folding her arms. She didn’t want Owen finding out about what she had done. She was vulnerable and she couldn’t do anything.

 

 “Tosh?” Jack said, pulling the tech back into reality. “What do you think?”

 

 Tosh paused. She didn’t want Owen to know...but surely it would make sense? And she didn’t necessarily have to tell Owen everything, not yet at least. “Okay,” she said finally, not quite sounding all too confident in the decision. 

 

 Jack didn’t push it. “Owen,” he called out, striding out from his office. Ianto smiled slightly at her, trying to reassure her with his affection. It worked, sort of. Toshiko felt more self-assured as she followed Jack out of the office.

 

 “Jack?” Owen answered, standing from his desk to study the other man. When he saw Toshiko’s worried expression and hunched shoulders behind the American, his brow furrowed and he crossed his arms, concerned but trying not to show it.

 

 The immortal sighed, turning to look at Tosh again for confirmation, speaking again as the woman nodded. “Tosh is being stalked by someone. An alien - Arcanteenian. The cases in Project Lowry were all filed because of her. She’s killed hundreds of people.”

 

 Owen’s expression had become increasingly angry as Jack explained, at by that point, he was furious. “What does she want with Tosh?” he hissed, voice wavering with resentment for Mary. There was a tinge of fear in his voice, but anger seem to lay on top of it. 

 

 “She wanted the tech that we found,” Jack said. “It’s a transporter. One prisoner, one guard. I think that she killed the guard…”

 

 Owen swallowed audibly, shifting uneasily. “Okay…” he muttered. “Okay...where are we going?” he asked abruptly, noticing Jack’s attire. The immortal continued walking to the garage, allowing Owen to hurry after him - he knew that when he began to explain the situation in more depth to Owen, the medic would refuse to let Toshiko go through with it, and her role in the plan was crucial.

 

 They were in the SUV and part way to Toshiko’s house before Jack spoke again. “Mary, the alien....she’s outside Tosh’s place. We’re sending Tosh in to try and convince Mary, or at least allow Mary into Torchwood where we’re better suited to handling her arrest.”

 

 Owen exploded. “The hell? You’re sending Tosh into the field? And with a dangerous alien, no less - the fuck are you thinking?” 

 

 Tosh went rigid in the back seat; comfortingly, Ianto stroked down her arm, feeling the muscles relax under his calming ministrations. The tone worried her somewhat, as she had pictured it in a different scenario, with Owen screaming at her for reading his thoughts. 

 

 “It’s the only way we can easily get her into the Hub. She won’t hurt Tosh until she’s there,” Jack reassured in a placating tone. It seemed to somewhat appease the medic, who slumped back into his seat. 

 

 “I just don’t want Tosh to get hurt,” he murmured in a small, vulnerable voice. Owen had so much care in his heart for the technician, even if he hadn’t been acting it for the past few days. Perhaps this mission was serving to show how much he truly did worry about Tosh. 

 

 “I won’t get hurt. I have you guys,” Toshiko said quietly from the back seat. Owen seemed to relax more after that, but then they pulled up to Toshiko’s street. Jack tried to keep the SUV hidden from view, pulling up behind some trees. 

 

 Toshiko was about to leave, having hyped herself up on the journey and unsure if she could keep the confidence if she stayed any longer, but Ianto stopped her.  His face was pinched with concern.

 

 “Can you let me check your mental walls?”

 

 Tosh nodded silently, shifting forwards to allow Ianto to spread his fingertips over her temple. There was a warmth dipping into her mind for a second before the sensation faded. Ianto smiled reassuringly at her. “It’s all good. You should be fine.”

 

 “You will be fine,” Jack stressed, craning his head round to look at Tosh. He smiled slightly at her, but it seemed fake and his eyes were dull and lifeless. He was just as scared as Toshiko was. 

 

 “Thanks, Jack,” Tosh murmured and then, taking a deep breath, she opened the car door and walked down the street to where Mary was waiting for her.

 

* * *

 

 It was surprisingly easy to pass it off as natural, convincing Mary to come with her to Torchwood. She played up her dislike for Owen and Gwen’s behaviour until it verged on hatred and as far as Tosh was aware, Mary never picked up on the mental block Ianto had placed on her mind.

 

 Ianto never once dared to access her mind before she re-entered the Hub, too afraid that Mary would notice it and hurt her. He was hidden behind a wall leading to holding cells when Toshiko walked cautiously inside, her movements nervous and timid. The woman behind her was tall and blonde and her looming presence over Toshiko’s shoulder and intense glare sickened Ianto. Judging by the alien’s evident repulsion of Torchwood, it could still be possible that she hurt Tosh in her rage.

  “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan   
  A stately pleasure-dome decree  
  Where Alph, the sacred river, ran   
  Through caverns measureless to man   
  Down to a sunless sea,” Mary recited as she stalked through the Hub, lips curling in distaste. There was a sort of smugness to her expression and Ianto’s shoulders tensed as he took note of it.

 

 “So, where is it, lover?” Mary called out as she lounged against a railing. Toshiko was in the armoury, where Jack had been holding the transporter, a faux-puzzled look on her face. Ianto could see her eyebrows furrow at Mary’s use of the endearment, now holding nothing but fear and anger in her heart for the Arcanteenian. 

 

 “Stay here. Jack, my boss, has got it,” Tosh replied. A slight tremor in her voice must have given away her fright, because as she began climbing the stairs to the meeting room, as they had planned, Mary grabbed her roughly by the arm. 

 

 She lifted a hand to stroke at Toshiko’s face, a predatory look in her eyes. Ianto’s hackles raised at the sight and Jack must have been as furious as he, because just as Mary was about to open her mouth, he appeared with the transporter.

 

 Toshiko grinned at the sight, tension dissipating from her body for a split second before it returned with full force. As Jack spoke, droning on about how evident Mary’s mind control on Tosh was, he ambled down the stairs, movements loose and confident.

 

 Jack was in his domain when his family were in danger. Ianto hadn’t seen anyone suit the thrill of fear better than his immortal.

 

 Still, the main emotion was concern, which was probably why he broke off abruptly as Mary whirled Tosh around, faster than what the tech could process, and pressed a knife from the armoury to her delicate throat. If Mary focused hard enough, she could probably feel the thu-thump of Toshiko’s rapid heartbeat as her jugular strained against the blade.

 

 Several things happened all at once. Owen, from his new, revealed position by the armoury shot forwards, as if to try and save Tosh. Jack yelled loudly for Mary to let Tosh go as Mary stared on impassively. She stretched a hand out, some form of energy that she possessed stopping Owen in his tracks.

 

 And Ianto...His magic was everywhere. Blue raced past Toshiko’s vision, encircling her and Mary, shooting at and through the both of them. Mary’s grip on the blade faltered and she dropped it with a sharp cry. Ianto’s magic forced her away from Tosh and the woman spun around, seeing her Linkmate standing with his arm outstretched, electric energy twirling protectively and powerfully through his fingers. 

 

 The blue faded and Ianto slumped against the wall, exhausted. Mary had recovered quickly, her own alien biology fighting off the effects of Ianto’s Gift much more efficiently than any human could. She laughed wildly.

 

 “I haven’t seen one of your kind for many, many years,” Mary cawed at Ianto, whose eyes narrowed in suspicion. If they kept Mary for questioning, he might be able to find out who the Gifteds actually were - but the image of Tosh with a knife at her throat quickly banished the idea from his mind. 

 

 “You’re quite powerful, if a bit inexperienced. But,” Mary laughed maniacally, turning to Jack who had Tosh safely hidden behind his back, “your precious pet has worn himself out. Just look at him! I could do anything I want to him right now.”

 

 “Please,” Toshiko begged helplessly, knowing that what Mary said was true. “Don’t.”

 

 Mary smirked evilly. “No, I want to try it out. It’s been so long since I used by power,” she grinned and with that, turned on Ianto, hand shooting forwards. Her movements were self-assured and capable and Tosh could imagine admiring them had she not seen what they had done.

 

 Ianto screamed, his voice painfully loud and hurt. Tosh cried out with him and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack gasp his resolve to not let Mary have the tech falter. “No! Please, let him go!” he cried out, but Mary shook her head, persisting with her elemental attack on Ianto until the man was depleted to nothing but a shivering mess on the ground.

 

 “We’ll give you the transporter!” That caught Mary’s attention and her hand lowered. She reached out expectantly and Jack stalked forwards, holding it out to her. He saw Ianto tense in the background before falling still, his breaths - Jack forced himself to believe that Ianto was still breathing - barely visible. Owen knelt by his side, subconsciously protecting the fallen man with his own body.

 

 Mary smiled, her tongue running over her lips. In a low, curious voice, she flirted, “you smell different to them.” Jack didn’t respond for a second, as Mary inched forwards, breathing in his scent deeply. He shuddered in disgust.

 

 “Get the hell of my planet,” he muttered as Mary grabbed the transporter. It flared into light and the Arcanteenian’s face crumbled. “What’s going on?” she cried frantically.

 

 “Oh, that?” Jack answered, feeling a sick satisfaction at what was about to happen. “I reprogrammed it for you - it’s set to enable,” he finished, just as Mary screamed and vanished in a flash of light.

 

 “You just let her go?” Toshiko murmured, not believing her eyes. She understood the situation, of course, but all of the innocent people Mary had hurt...and she was going unpunished?

 

 “I reset the coordinates,” Jack admitted quietly. “She’s currently residing in the centre of the Sun.”

 

 Toshiko was about to say something when Owen called them over. He was still besides Ianto, who was slowly waking up. “Is he alright?” Jack asked frantically, dropping down next to his partner.

 

 “He’s going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine.”

 

* * *

 

 Ianto woke in an unfamiliar setting. It took a while for it to hit him that he was in the Archivist’s ‘office’, which he had converted into a room for himself to meditate. The bed underneath his back was soft and the sheets smelled fresh and pleasant. 

 

 “Ianto?” Toshiko called out, reaching over to take the telepath’s hand. Ianto relaxed slightly, his initial confusion and slight fear disappearing at the sound of Tosh’s voice, no matter how tear-clogged it sounded. 

 

 “Wait,” Ianto murmured, as he noticed Tosh turning to yell for the others. “You’re alright, aren’t you?”

 

 Tosh nodded with a small smile. It didn’t exactly reassure Ianto, but he was too exhausted to push it just yet. “I’m so proud of you, Toshiko. If you hadn’t had the courage to tell me everything...I don’t know what I would do if I lost you, clover.”

 

 Toshiko covered her mouth with her hand, tears welling up in her slightly reddened eyes. As she calmed down, Ianto turned blearily onto his side, watching her through his lashes. “You know,” Toshiko choked out, “when I first found out about your Gift, I wished for an age that I could have something like it. And now? It’s like a curse...hearing all those peoples’ voices, their fears and worries…how do you cope, Yan?”

 

 “I have you. And Jack. My family and friends, my team. I get to wake up every morning to hear your thoughts, mundane, stupid things, but it doesn’t matter because they’re yours. I feel so much better, so much safer, when I can hear what you’re thinking, when I can comfort you because I actually know what you’re feeling at that exact moment.”

 

 Tosh swallowed hard. “I could never be strong enough to deal with that all the time,” she whispered, but Ianto shook his head adamantly.

 

 “You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met...but it doesn’t matter about the telepathy, or about Mary anymore. You don’t have to deal with that anymore. You have me and the others to protect you.”

 

 Tosh leant down, brushing a small kiss to Ianto’s forehead, her face breaking out into a dazzling, if a bit tear-streaked, smile. “Thank you, Ianto.” She turned around in her seat and shouted for the other, who seemed to have been waiting patiently outside, allowing Toshiko and Ianto their privacy. Owen’s face was stormy.

 

 “I need to do a full examination,” Owen muttered, snapping his kit open roughly. He threw himself into the chair by Ianto’s feet, letting Jack take the one by Ianto’s face. The immortal smiled tenderly down at the man. 

 

 “Hey,” he whispered, Ianto murmuring a similar greeting. Expectantly, the Archivist tilted his face up and Jack chuckled slightly, bending down to sweetly kiss Ianto’s lips. For a few minutes, as Owen checked him over, stating simply that he would need a lot of rest, he and Jack flirted softly, revelling in each other’s presence and safety.

 

 “Why did you read my thoughts?” Owen snapped at Toshiko, bringing Jack and Ianto out of their own little bubble.

 

 Shit suddenly hit the fan.

 

 “I-I-I...I don’t know,” Toshiko stuttered, trying to curl up smaller under Owen’s angry scrutiny. “Well, you better fucking find out. Those thoughts were private and you invaded them-”

 

 “She had no power over the pendant!” Ianto cried, rearing up on the bed, His head spun as he sat up, but he resolutely kept his glare on Owen. The medic’s brow furrowed and he bit out, “Lie down. You’re going to get yourself more hurt if you over exert yourself.”

 

 “Oh, yeah, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Ianto sneered. It wasn’t his usual self and everyone in the room sensed it as Jack tried to ease the telepath back down. Ianto didn’t budge until Owen started speaking, his gaze never wavering from Ianto’s own. 

 

 “I might be the slightest bit pissed off at the both of you right now,” he hissed, “but you are my patient, Ianto, and just ‘cos I’m annoyed does not mean that I suddenly stop caring about you. About either of you. So. Please - lie down.”

 

 Ianto did as he was told, an apology on his lips for the medic. Owen wasn’t usually so open about his care for Ianto or Toshiko and it was a massive step to say it so explicitly. “I’m recommending a few days of bedrest,” Owen sighed, cutting into Ianto’s rapid thoughts.

 

 Jack’s hand stroked absently and pleasurably through Ianto’s hair. “That means real bedrest, Ianto. You have to stay in bed, relaxed,” Jack mumbled, his voice soothing the tension in the room. “And I’ll come visit you, too. I’ll make sure you never leave the bed,” he continued with a saucy wink that had Ianto giggling softly.

 

 “Okay. Three days bedrest. I can do that,” Ianto answered, voice full of confidence. Three days wasn’t so bad. He could deal with three days of relaxation and sleep. He could!

  
 Spoilers: he couldn’t.


End file.
